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Disney movies are for kids

The Walt Disney Company owns Touchstone, Miramax, Caravan, and Dimension studios. Do you claim that Dimension's Scream series is for kids?

Farquaad =F***Wad

Is the nude scene in Disney's The Rescuers any better? What about the (accidental) penis-shaped tower on the cover of the first run of Disney's The Little Mermaid VHS and LaserDisc?

momma bear becoming a rug

Is Walt Disney's Bambi any better?

I am too poor to see the value of having something I have copyrighted becoming public domain

Would you want to have to pay a royalty to the descendants of the caveman who invented the wheel? What if Beowulf were unavailable to the public because we could not locate the author?

Claim: Questioned about the wisdom of teaching Boy Scouts to use firearms, a US General points out the difference between being equipped to do something and doing it.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1999]

This is an extract of an National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Army Lieutenant General Reinwald about sponsoring a Boy Scout Troop on his military installation.

Interviewer: "So, LTG Reinwald, what are you going to do with these young boys on their adventure holiday?"

LTG Reinwald: "We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting."

Interviewer: "Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?"

LTG Reinwald: "I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the range."

Interviewer: "Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?"

LTG Reinwald: "I don't see how, we will be teaching them proper range discipline before they even touch a firearm."

Interviewer: "But you're equipping them to become violent killers."

LTG Reinwald: "Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?"

End of the interview

Origins: As great a tale as this is, it's pure fabrication. It began life in 1999, purportedly about an "LTG Reinwald" of the US Army. In 2001 it reappeared, this time attributed to "Marine Corps General Reinwald."

The U.S. Army denies that there is a Lieutenant General Reinwald and chalks the whole thing up as a hoax. (Which is as logic dictated all along; if an armed forces spokesperson ever gave voice to a sexist remark likening a female interviewer to a prostitute, that officer would soon be called upon to make a very public apology as well as face charges within ranks for conduct unbecoming.)

National Public Radio had this to say about the matter:

We are aware of an erroneous story posted on the Free Republic Website, and possibly elsewhere, which mentions a supposed interview between an unnamed NPR reporter and a U.S Army Lieutenant General Reinwald. The story is false -- the dialogue mentioned was not an NPR interview, and it never aired on any NPR program.

Those who like their guns and who believe responsible gun ownership begins with teaching young people the right way to handle firearms at an early age have a great fondness for this story. As well they should, because this anecdote illustrates in a humorous way the difference between having the ability to do something and that ability dictating life choices.

The "Reinwald" story existed as a joke as far back as October 1997 when it appeared on a number of web pages in the following form:

Excerpt from a recent live radio interview on one of the regional Welsh stations:

A female newscaster is interviewing the leader of a Youth club:

Interviewer: So, Mr. Jones, what are you going to do with these children on this adventure holiday?

Mr Jones: We're going to teach them climbing, abseiling, canoeing, archery, shooting...

Interviewer: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible isn't it?

Jones: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the range.

Interviewer: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

Jones: I don't see how, we will be teaching them proper range discipline before they even touch a firearm.

Interviewer: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.

Jones: Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute but you're not one are you?

Needless to say, the interview was terminated almost immediately.

Notice the differences that have taken place between the two tellings:

* "Abseiling" has been taken out of the Americanized version (probably because whoever altered the text didn't know it was a r

> > Like boiling lobsters, you just raise the
> > temperature a tiny bit at a time and people
> > don't realize they're being baked.

> That's frogs. A lobster couldn't get out of
> the slowly heating pot even if it did realize
> what was happening. A frog could jump out but
> doesn't.

Not that it matters much, but this is indeed a myth.
Frogs don't tend to sit still for long, and if
they can jump out of a pot of water, they will.

DRM ensures that the creators and producers of works get paid. The work can be "enjoyed" by anyone who pays.

Really? Why? Do you have any guarantee that the author will continue to sell it? If not, then the DRM will allow him to remove old works from the market, and pretend they never existed.

The original Star Wars, the original ET, and the first film to mix live and artficial characters will be lost.

Even if the work doesn't specifically embarrass the owner, he (or his heirs, 75 years later) may not feel its profitable enough to bother selling. Or those heirs may just forget they even own it.

Was Shakespear "hamper[ing] culural progress massively" when he charged people to see his plays?

He had no effective way to prevent copying, and in fact did. If modern laws and systems had already be in place when he wrote, then those plays would still be accumulating dollars to the Estate of Wm Shakespeare after every performance.

Furthermore we can split information into two very broad categories - factual and creative (my categories, I just made them up and I'm sure plenty of you can find fault with these)

Interestingly, according to the US constitution, copyright is illegal on the second category. Protection can only apply to "sciences and the useful arts". The majority of things demanding DRM are works like "The Matrix Reloaded", which is definately not science, and also not "useful".

- when we look at the factual content e.g. news, science, humanities, next to none of it is covered by DRM.

Duh? DRM doesn't exist yet. Nothing at all is covered under it. By DRM I mean (and the Wired author means) strong DRM, where your computer and media work together to keep you from violating a copyright.

However, when/if DRM starts to arrive, you can be sure that newspapers at least will be one kind of "factual" content that will jump to using DRM. Online newspapers already try to give free access to stories less than 48 hours old, and require payment for archival access. If they can stop readers from saving, printing, or forwarding during the 48 hours (and ideally make saved copies expire on a timer) they'll be very happy.

Science is also increasingly commercialized (especially biology and computer science), so those classes of publisher would be attracted to DRM too.

And if we look back over history, the important stuff (Shakespear, Mozart, Picasso and 1000's of others) is constantly reproduced in the latest modern formats.

Reproduced by people without copyright authorization. (Well, except maybe Picasso. Some Picasso works are less than 97 years old, the current duration of copyright)

But, do we want only the "best" (most popular, most immediately acclaimed) stuff to survive? Other things have value too, which isn't immediately apparent.

the good stuff will survive or be rediscovered.

If its rediscovered, though, it may be on DRM media, which is designed to oppose efforts to read it (up to and including the possibility of self-destructing!). Hieroglyphs and cuniform were designed to spread information- DRM is the opposite.

Besides, if these trends continue, copyright will last for multiple centuries. It will be a crime for you investigate recovered, rotting media.

Not everyone agrees.

Reminds me of a story to which technically-minded readers might better relate...

Nikola Tesla visited Henry Ford at his factory, which was having some kind of difficulty. Ford asked Tesla if he could help identify the problem area. Tesla walked up to a wall of boilerplate and made a small X in chalk on one of the plates. Ford was thrilled, and told him to send an invoice.

The bill arrived, for $10,000. Ford asked for a breakdown. Tesla sent another invoice, indicating a $1 charge for marking the wall with an X, and $9,999 for knowing where to put it.

Burglars have successfully sued homeowners for falling through a roof and injuring themselves whilst breaking into said house.

I believe this is a pseudo-urban-legend. Check this article. Scroll down to where it says "Tales of the Absurd". It says:

Ronald Reagan recounted how a cat burglar sued a homeowner for injuries incurred while falling through the homeowner's skylight. When the real case was identified, it turned out that the plaintiff was not a cat burglar at all. He was a high school student who had been sent to retrieve athletic equipment stored on the roof of the school and had fallen through a skylight that had been painted black.

And in a similar vein, this page says:

This particularly news story pointed out that the burglars were mere children, which made it even worse. The facts were these: a group of high school students were playing soccer (or whatever) near their school gym on a weekend. The gym --the entire school -- was closed. They managed to kick the ball up on the roof of the gym. Enterprising boys, they climbed up on the roof, which was clearly forbidden by posted signs. On the roof was a skylight, which had been painted over in the same color as the rest of the roof. The boys didn't notice the skylight, walked on it, and fell through it. THey were injured. The school was held liable for creating a hazard by painting over the skylight: even one of the maintenance staff who had walked on it during school hours would have risked the boys' fate.

A google search on the subject turns up MANY references to a case like this in California where a cat burglar fell through a painted skylight and won. Depending on which item you read he won either because the insurance company settled or because the jury felt the school had failed to make itself safe to burgle. Nobody, not even the article I linked to, provides specifics so one could verify that facts independently. I didn't even get a hit on snopes.

Another interesting hit a I did get is here. An analysis of california's 1996 prop 213 which refers, vaguely, to this court case. Again no specifics are given.

Wouldn't want people to know the truth, now would we?

I think the lesson the DRM-and-associated industries will take from this is the Boiling Frog story.

For those not familiar with it (there might be a few), the theory goes that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out. If you place that frog in a pan of warm water and slowly raise the heat to boiling, the thing won't budge until it's dead (and then it still won't budge. =)

You failed to point out that this is an urban legend (or this link is funnier as they actually tried it).

Phillip.

Nice story, but its not true

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.htm

Well, feel free to mod me down for replying to my own post:

The Tommy Tutone song "Jenny (867-5309)" drove the phone companies (and their customers) nuts.

"Jenny (867-5309)" caused nothing but grief for telephone customers unlucky enough to have that combination of numbers as their own. Its relentless chorus, "Jenny don't change your number - eight six seven five three oh nah-eeh-ah-ine," pounded the phone number into the minds of teenagers everywhere, resulting in waves of kids dialing it and asking for Jenny. The joke quickly became old for those who had the number and weren't interested in talking to horny teens.

Al? Are you back?

Hey, maybe once Ghana gets their IT infrastructure up to speed, they can launch their own version of the Nigerian Email Scam.

Unfortunately this says "the lack of a well-developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center". Bummer.

You know, there may still be someone on the planet who hasn't heard this one, but I wouldn't bet on him reading slashdot.

Don't pretend that a well-known anecdote is your own creation. That's just... crass.

--grendel drago

Bullshit.

You say this happened in Canada, but you used American money? I live nowhere near that border; what's up with that?

Anyway, regarding the guys with $1000 bills: The "legal tender" doesn't mean that somebody has to accept it, except the Federal Reserve. If the seller and the buyer can't agree on an instrument of payment, then there's just no sale. Yeah, the guy with the $1000 bill wouldn't have to pay-- but the store doesn't have to give him their product!

By the way: the $1000 bill hasn't been issued since 1969, and the Federal Reserve pulls them from circulation.

Also see Snopes on legal tender, and the US Treasury FAQ.

The link you have says this was proposed, it does not say nor can I find any evidence that it was ever enacted.

In this (interesting) discussion from the House of Representatives in 2000, they talk about the current state of anti-counterfeit technology and mention that some copiers "scar" or refuse to print bills -- and discussion of implementing this in scanners too -- but there is no mention of serial number tracking.

Unfortunately Snopes hasn't said anything on the subject yet.

"Belonging" means ... To have exclusive rights over.

Do you believe that such exclusive rights, as they are currently defined by law, match prevailing moral standards? Including the ban on singing "Happy Birthday to You" in public without the permission of AOL? Most people I ask are surprised that some older works are still under copyright, which can only mean that the exclusive rights in those works exist only in the legal code, not the moral code.

If you're using "theft" in a moral sense, match it up with a moral code. For rights such as the Bono Act and the DMCA that exist only in the legal code, only the legal definition of "theft" (the taking of physical property, such as larceny, automobile theft, robbery, and embezzlement) makes sense. Mixing legal and colloquial senses of a given word willy-nilly would in Microsoft executives getting life sentences for "killing" the competition. Though many Slashdotters would like to see that happen, I don't believe such a punishment would remotely fit the crime, morally or legally.

I heard that French wine (red wine) uses cow blood to give it color.

To filter it, you mean? That's been forbidden in Europe since 1997 (see for example a related urban legend); other animal substances are used now.

Methinks you missed the point.

I've always found it interesting that 420 has been so incredibly popular here in the US (for ~30 years even) yet no one outside the country seems to have heard of it..

For your reading pleasure: 420.

That whole story was actually bogus.

See the Snopes Article for more.

While Gore never claimed to have invented the Internet, his statements were exaggerations. See here for a balanced discussion.

Form PA is used for copyrighting printed music and/or lyrics on traditional staff paper.

Form SR is used for copyrighting a finished music production that can be played back on any music reproduction device. Every track on every album has a form SR associated with it.

You cannot copyright a rhythm or a "riff"; the copyright protects a complete song on the basis of melody, lyrics, and chord/bass structure. Huey Lewis & the News won a copyright infringement against Ray Parker Jr in 1981 when a court concluded that the "Ghostbusters" theme song was too identical to "I want a new drug".

However there are publishing licenses, mechanical licences, print licenses, et al as described here. These are the protection mechanisms of copyrighted music that go all the way back to the birth of radio in the 1920s. Sampling falls under the definition of a music reproduction device. If a sample artist intends to "lift" a segment of a prerecorded work for profit, they need to get mechanical license to use them or they risk forfeiting all profits to the copyright owner. The precedent was established all the way back to Vanilla Ice plagiarizing the main hook from Queen's "Under Pressure" for his hit song "Ice Ice Baby".

Fair use applies when there is no profit earned. Earn a profit and you attract trouble if you don't get permission to use samples. There is a good primer on copyright fair use here.

Just a quick glance makes it look like a LOAD of bs. Elsewhere on their list of "hateful numbers" they list "311".

Not only is 311 NOT a bunch of white supremecists, they have, in fact written a number of songs AGAINST racesism and violence.

"311" is the police code for indecent exposure in Omaha, nothing more.

The ADL is just slandering an innocent, and seriously kickass band. The fuckers should FOAD.

Urban legend. See www.snopes.com for the details. Having conductive lead dust (or broken pencil tips) floating around all those electronics in zero-G isn't a great idea.

Yes.

I would like to submit a link at snopes.com for your consideration. I am no fan of Bush, but...

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/bush.htm

I wonder if they have urban legends debunkery in the Matrix as well?

He is thinking about chop suey - not fortune cookies like others have speculated.
There is an extensive article about the history of chop suey on snopes.com that refers to it being served to miners during the 1800's.

http://www.snopes.com/food/origins/chopsuey.htm

erg, slashdot ate my link.

Standard UPC bar codes consist of a set of lines to mark the start of the code, the left hand part of the code itself, another set of marker lines, the right hand part of the code itself, and a third set of marker lines:

True...

The marker lines are "0101", "01010" and "1010" respectively, where 0 is white and 1 is black.

True...

Now, the encoding scheme is complicated, but it just so happens that "0101" if treated as data on the left hand side would decode to the digit "6". Similarly, "1010" on the right hand side would decode to a "6" if it were data.

Here's where you diverge from the truth. Numbers are represented by 7 bars, each either black or white. The code for 6 on the left is 1011110, and on the right is 0101000 (where 0 is white and 1 is black). Thus, there is no 666 in bar codes. Not even kinda-sorta.

See my website for more info. Or, read the Snopes article on the matter. But please, stop spreading this dis-information.

Now, the encoding scheme is complicated, but... Hence every UPC bar code has "6...6...6" built into it.

Um, no.

http://www.snopes.com/business/alliance/barcode.as p

There's no danger from using a cell phone near a gas pump, diesel or otherwise. Most gas stations have rescinded the stupid policy of demanding you turn off your cell phone while on the forecourt. There are plenty of references to this: Snopes.com even lists it as an urban legend.

Oh, and Al Gore did not claim to invent the internet. You who say otherwise are just dittoheads taking a poorly-worded statement out of context. So FOAD.

cya,
john

You mean the ones that Disney filmmakers deliberately herded off of a cliff?

Damn those Disney guys are eeeevil :)

Simple, set up a vending machine in Japan and sell them.

Well, your recall and hearing may be fine, but your story is apocryphal. :)

See http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.htm

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's just an urban legend.

As long as we're on the subject:

Donatello: Bossa Nova!
Michelangelo: Bossa Nova?
Donatello: Chevy Nova? ... Cowabunga?
Michelangelo: Cowabunga!

You've never drank a drop of alcohol, nor smoked a cigarette, but you're going to tell us, through your own experience, how much better you are than those who do.

{sigh}

I was 25 before I tried a lot of things. You'd be absolutely amazed at the possibilities that are out there. I won't even begin to make a list of the illegal, immoral, or fattening things I've done. :)

I've seen a lot of people have their first experiences with lots of things, and ask out loud, "Why didn't I ever do this before?"

The answer is simple. They never tried it before, because some morally self rightous person told them that it was wrong.

I am the sum of my experiences. I've experienced both alcohol and tobacco.

You are the sum of your experiences. You have experienced neither.

I seriously hope the tannic acid reference was a joke.

-----
Tannic acid. (Chem.) (a) An acid obtained from nutgalls as a yellow amorphous substance, C14H10O9, having an astringent taste, and forming with ferric salts a bluish-black compound, which is the basis of common ink. Called also tannin, and gallotannic acid. (b) By extension, any one of a series of astringent substances resembling tannin proper, widely diffused through the vegetable kingdom, as in oak bark, willow, catechu, tea, coffee, etc.
-----

As for the evil chemicals in tobacco, you missed a really dangerous one, used in both tobacco and alcohol. dihydrogen monoxide.


BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!

Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged Ban me! exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Dihydrogen monoxide:

* is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
* contributes to the "greenhouse effect."
* may cause severe burns.
* contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
* accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
* may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
* has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:

# as an industrial solvent and coolant.
# in nuclear power plants.
# in the production of styrofoam.
# as a fire retardant.
# in many forms of cruel animal research.
# in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
# as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.

--

Snopes debunk this story here

Its always worth checking with Snopes. That and checking for dupes I guess ;-)

And for more info, you can read more on this at Snopes.

This is a hoax made up by the Weekly World News, an Internet-based newspaper that's only slightly less factual and sleazier than the National Enquirer. Please see the
Today must have been a really slow newsday for Slashdot.

According to Snopes, that's not actually true...

this is false:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.htm

gradual acclimation to temperature changes is true, but there is a relatively well-defined pain threshold (around 120-125 for humans).

It's mostly an urban legend.

It is indeed an urban legend. That pen was developed by the Fisher pen company, without NASA's funding.

The pen is now used by the Russian and USian space programs.

More info at snopes